Shop 'Till They Drop - We all realise the importance of wages, whether we have a 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday job, a part-time job or know someone that works to provide for us. Not only does the money that people gain help to provide a roof over their heads, electricity, heating and food, but for many, wages also enables one to have entertainment and to splash out on the latest 'I want this' consumer goods. Yet, imagine a world where none of this was possible. Imagine a world where 80 hours of work per week is the norm and the cost of living widely surpasses the wages that you receive per month. This isn't the storyline of some fictious novel, it is real life for many that work to provide the clothes that you and I wear in Western society. My blog, entitled "Shop 'Till They Drop," is a university project and not only explores the relams of sweatshops around the globe, but also exploitation in many spheres that you wouldn't imagine, such as the innocent-looking cut-fllowers that we all purchase from supermarkets. The aim of my blog is to not only highlight the events that are currently occuring around the globe, but also how we can all help to reduce the amount of exploitation that is happening and last, but not least, learn more about the entire happenings myself!

After weeks of painstaking research and late-night expeditions that had turned up next to nothing, I was finally on the verge of a breakthrough. I found myself standing, nearly motionless, in the dark, warm environment that I'd identified as the native habitat of the creature I'd been trying so hard to track down: Homo sapiens douchebagus, a hard-partying bipedal primate indigenous to Dallas.

Many people know this creature better by its common name: the $30,000 millionaire. The name is derived from their distinctive behavioral pattern of spending more money than they make in an attempt to appear wealthy and desirable. A clever creature, adept at camouflage, Homo sapiens douchebagus is a peculiar species, and evidence of its existence is largely anecdotal. I hoped to capture one in the wild.

For a number of years, I've told people who have been thinking of getting me something for Christmas or whatever holiday excuse they have for gift giving that I'd simply prefer they not get me anything at all. The reaction to often ranges from confusion (i.e., how can you not want gifts?) to exasperation that my insincere "no, no, you don't have to get me anything…" ways just means they will have to be extra crafty in getting me a gift, since I’m not helping them by hinting at what I want. This is when people ask my wife what I want, and she tells them that I told her years ago to stop getting me Christmas gifts. At which point I suspect their heads explode.

Actually, I started doing something similar this year. Mainly because of his first reason, "When I really want something, I buy it." I really do buy myself the things that I want. Also, "it’s money more profitably spent on people who want something in particular, or (if you’re in this frame of mind) to a charity, or just kept in their own pocket." Going along with that charity thing, I set my mom this email:

From: brian@brianpuccio.net
Subject: Christmas
Date: November 17, 2007 9:43:05 PM EST
To: ctpuccio@optonline.net

So I was thinking that since this year my charitable donations have sucked, I'm not asking for anything. If anyone asks what to get me, they can just make a donation to any of the below. Also, another terapass would be nifty.

Thanks!

EFF
Habitat For Humanity
Medecins Sans Frontiers
Free Software Foundation
Heifer International
The Trust For Public Land
International Red Cross
International Medical Corps

I had this list put together and then I read this:

http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/702-darryl-c-didier

So I'd like to add the American Brain Tumor Association to the list.

Thanks!

What are your "good," "ethical," or "moral" criteria for spending your money? Organic? Fair Trade? Made in America? No Animals Harmed in the Making Of This ____? For the dollars you spend on goods and services, what values do you consider other than the value to yourself? Explain why.

Judging by all the responses, it seems there are lots of people who have their reasons to buy or not buy certain products. Though I guess for every person who responded, there's another twenty who don't give a fuck.

I have created this spreadsheet the past couple of years to help with my Black Friday shopping, I have found it very useful and I hope you will as well. Essentially, it is a spreadsheet that lists all the major Black Friday store ads in a format that can be sorted by store, product, price, etc. Use the drop down arrows at the top of the columns to sort and/or filter the data. The spreadsheet can be downloaded from here. Enjoy.

Those Fat Wallet guys are awesome!

The whole time I was growing up no one ever said anything about oil. No one ever said anything about foreign manufacturing. No one ever said anything about non-linear population growth. No one ever said anything about Topsoil. No one ever said anything about illegal aliens. No one ever said anything about preparation for anything that might come our way. No, the sad truth is that the boomers grew up in unprecedented wealth and security and blissfully burned more oil, energy, topsoil and whatever else you can regretfully burn than any generation since the beginning of known history. These are the assholes who told us to “get good grades” and everything will be awesome.

,,,

End the war, you save your children.Prolong this war, you might get your social security checks with all the nuclear fallout around and illegals stealing your mail to.